The school year might be winding down, but we have been VERY busy in Science Class!
Shad In The Classroom
Fifth grade did an amazing job with the Shad in the Classroom program! Students learned about the American Shad, brainstormed why their population declined, and thought about ways we could help. They practiced using pipettes and taking water quality measurements before our eggs arrived. Our eggs were delivered on April 25th and the excitement was uncontrollable! Students did a fantastic job removing dead eggs with their pipettes and determining if our water quality tests fell within the correct range to keep our eggs and Fry (baby fish) healthy! The first time we saw an egg hatch brought a flurry of OO's and Ahh's! We wrapped up the week with a field trip to the Neuse River to release the Fry. We wished our little Shad the best, some even named their Fry as they sent them on their way, hoping that one day they would return to the Neuse River to lay eggs. As part of the Shad in the Classroom Program, one fifth grade class had the opportunity to dissect a fish with an NCSU graduate student! Students jumped right in with their tools! We are extremely thankful to the Natural Science Museum for including us in this amazing program, and we look forward to many more years of helping the American Shad Restoration Program.
Sea Turtle Skype
3rd and 4th grade have been researching in Media & Science all about Sea Turtles and why their populations have declined over the years. What have we concluded? Human Impact plays a large role in the decline. What is the positive? Helpful Humans like the Turtle Hospital in the FL Keys and other conservationists are doing everything they can to help Sea Turtle populations. We have been fortunate that The Turtle Hospital as part of their educational outreach has been able to Skype with us, creating an authentic learning experience for our students! They have been able to see different species of Sea Turtles at the Hospital, learn about different injuries they are facing due to human impact and ways they are being rehabilitated. Students have also had opportunities to ask the Marine Biologist conducting the skype sessions thoughtful questions.
Rehab Turtles Hot Sauce & Scarlet O'Hara
A little bit sad, but a little bit glad. That's how we are all feeling about Hot Sauce our very special rehab Box Turtle. Hot Sauce went for his final check up at NCSU Turtle Rescue Team on 5/15. He will be staying at NCSU until he gets one final check up by an eye specialist and then hopefully he will be released on 5/19 back into the wild. If all goes well he will be included in an NCSU turtle tracking program once released and we will be receiving updates on his well being and whereabouts! Scarlet O'Hara our new painted turtle also went in for a check up where the veterinarian removed some dead skin and flushed out her wounds. She will be back at ACE this week and hopefully moving into Hot Sauce's old aquarium (of course the habitat will change from land to aquatic). Having two different turtles to learn about has given us a wonderful opportunity to include many science concepts connecting to our turtles. We have looked at similarities and differences between the species, food webs, habitats and many other concepts!
Monarch Waystation
Monarch Waystations! We are very fortunate that Monarch Watch has donated to us a flat of Milkweed plants to start our own Monarch Waystation at ACE! Milkweed plants are the only plants that Monarchs can lay their eggs on making them critical for increasing Monarch populations. Our Monarch Waystation will include Milkweed plants an various nectar plants (donated by AWESOME ACE families) providing food for Monarchs as well as many other pollinators! We are also including host plants for our native Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Our new garden will not only help our pollinators, but offer our students an authentic learning experience for many concepts taught as part of the NC Essential Science and Next Generation Science Standards.
Green Boot Camp
Finally, I wanted to share with everyone that I have been selected to participate in a week long program through Honeywell Educator's for Excellence Green Boot Camp! I will be spending the week in San Diego CA learning all about incorporating sustainability concepts in the classroom. I can't wait to bring back new ideas to our school! Please check out my Facebook Page (Mrs. Brinchek Science) and my twitter account (@Brinchekscience) for updates while I'm out there!
As always, please don't hesitate to email me with questions or ideas! Sincerely- Mrs. Brinchek
Shad In The Classroom
Fifth grade did an amazing job with the Shad in the Classroom program! Students learned about the American Shad, brainstormed why their population declined, and thought about ways we could help. They practiced using pipettes and taking water quality measurements before our eggs arrived. Our eggs were delivered on April 25th and the excitement was uncontrollable! Students did a fantastic job removing dead eggs with their pipettes and determining if our water quality tests fell within the correct range to keep our eggs and Fry (baby fish) healthy! The first time we saw an egg hatch brought a flurry of OO's and Ahh's! We wrapped up the week with a field trip to the Neuse River to release the Fry. We wished our little Shad the best, some even named their Fry as they sent them on their way, hoping that one day they would return to the Neuse River to lay eggs. As part of the Shad in the Classroom Program, one fifth grade class had the opportunity to dissect a fish with an NCSU graduate student! Students jumped right in with their tools! We are extremely thankful to the Natural Science Museum for including us in this amazing program, and we look forward to many more years of helping the American Shad Restoration Program.
Sea Turtle Skype
3rd and 4th grade have been researching in Media & Science all about Sea Turtles and why their populations have declined over the years. What have we concluded? Human Impact plays a large role in the decline. What is the positive? Helpful Humans like the Turtle Hospital in the FL Keys and other conservationists are doing everything they can to help Sea Turtle populations. We have been fortunate that The Turtle Hospital as part of their educational outreach has been able to Skype with us, creating an authentic learning experience for our students! They have been able to see different species of Sea Turtles at the Hospital, learn about different injuries they are facing due to human impact and ways they are being rehabilitated. Students have also had opportunities to ask the Marine Biologist conducting the skype sessions thoughtful questions.
Rehab Turtles Hot Sauce & Scarlet O'Hara
A little bit sad, but a little bit glad. That's how we are all feeling about Hot Sauce our very special rehab Box Turtle. Hot Sauce went for his final check up at NCSU Turtle Rescue Team on 5/15. He will be staying at NCSU until he gets one final check up by an eye specialist and then hopefully he will be released on 5/19 back into the wild. If all goes well he will be included in an NCSU turtle tracking program once released and we will be receiving updates on his well being and whereabouts! Scarlet O'Hara our new painted turtle also went in for a check up where the veterinarian removed some dead skin and flushed out her wounds. She will be back at ACE this week and hopefully moving into Hot Sauce's old aquarium (of course the habitat will change from land to aquatic). Having two different turtles to learn about has given us a wonderful opportunity to include many science concepts connecting to our turtles. We have looked at similarities and differences between the species, food webs, habitats and many other concepts!
Monarch Waystation
Monarch Waystations! We are very fortunate that Monarch Watch has donated to us a flat of Milkweed plants to start our own Monarch Waystation at ACE! Milkweed plants are the only plants that Monarchs can lay their eggs on making them critical for increasing Monarch populations. Our Monarch Waystation will include Milkweed plants an various nectar plants (donated by AWESOME ACE families) providing food for Monarchs as well as many other pollinators! We are also including host plants for our native Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Our new garden will not only help our pollinators, but offer our students an authentic learning experience for many concepts taught as part of the NC Essential Science and Next Generation Science Standards.
Green Boot Camp
Finally, I wanted to share with everyone that I have been selected to participate in a week long program through Honeywell Educator's for Excellence Green Boot Camp! I will be spending the week in San Diego CA learning all about incorporating sustainability concepts in the classroom. I can't wait to bring back new ideas to our school! Please check out my Facebook Page (Mrs. Brinchek Science) and my twitter account (@Brinchekscience) for updates while I'm out there!
As always, please don't hesitate to email me with questions or ideas! Sincerely- Mrs. Brinchek